Judicial Commission of Pakistan initiates process to fill high court vacancies

ISLAMABAD: Setting a rapid pace for judicial appointments, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has formally invited nominations to fill 10 vacant positions of additional judges in the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The move comes just a day after the commission approved the Inter­views of Judges Appointment Rules, creating a specialised seven-member panel to vet prospective candidates for the superior judiciary.

According to an official communication circulated by the JCP Secretariat, nominations on the prescribed format have been sought for the LHC benches and must reach the commission by July 4. Sources told Dawn that following the compilation of these nominations, the JCP is scheduled to convene intensive sessions from July 21 to 23 to evaluate and finalise selections for the Lahore, Sindh, and Balochistan high courts.

Concurrently, candidate recommendations for the Peshawar High Court (PHC) are being finalised and are expected to be placed before the commission during the same period. The swift procedural rollout follows a significant regulatory breakthrough during Friday’s JCP meeting, which was chaired by the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Yahya Afridi, in his capacity as the commission’s head.

Seven-member interview panel’s recommendations will not be binding on JCP

The institutional momentum is tied directly to the recently enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment, which modified Article 175A(4) to empower the JCP to formulate its own rules for assessing, evaluating, and determining the professional fitness of judicial candidates. Prior to these rules, a mounting backlog of cases and rising vacancies had stalled appointments across multiple provincial benches.

The structural gridlock was broken on Friday when 20 members of the 35-member commission voted by a majority to adopt the interview protocols, along with key amendments to the Judicial Com­mis­­sion of Pakistan (Appointment of Jud­­ges) Rules, 2024. However, the commission deferred consideration of the Judicial Performance Evaluation of High Court Judges Rules, 2026, choosing instead to solicit written feedback from provincial chief justices within seven days.

A source familiar with the development told Dawn that recommendations or findings generated by the newly established interview committee will not be legally binding on the main commission. The full JCP retains absolute statutory authority to make final determinations through a majority vote.

The size and operational reach of the interview body triggered intense internal debate before the final rules were adopted. The framework emerged from a five-member rule-making sub-committee comprising Federal Constitu­tional Court (FCC) Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, Senator Farooq H. Naek, Senator Syed Ali Zafar, and Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representative Muhammad Ahsan Bhoon. During deliberations, divergent institutional perspectives emerged. Senator Ali Zafar and Supreme Court Justice Munib Akhtar opposed delegating the screening process to a smaller body.

Justice Akhtar argued that making interviews mandatory via a sub-committee could prove logistically cumbersome, particularly given the large volume of concurrent nominees, and asserted that the assessment remains the collective obligation of the entire JCP. On the other hand, the AGP, FCC Justice Aamer Farooq, and Ahsan Bhoon suppo­r­ted a tighter, five-member screening panel. Senator Farooq H. Naek proposed a broader, multi-stakeholder compromise that ultimately won majority backing.

Under the approved framework, the seven-member interview panel balances judicial expertise with legislative and executive oversight. The panel consists of a designated JCP judge representing either the Supreme Court or the FCC, the senior-most Chief Justice among all provincial high courts, the Chief Justice of the specific High Court where the vacancy exists, the Attorney General for Pakistan, one parliamentary representative from the treasury benches, one parliamentary representative from the Opposition benches, and a designated executive nominee from the PBC.

Two key commission members, PTI’s Barrister Syed Ali Zafar and Gohar Ali Khan, did not attend Friday’s conclusive vote.

Despite nearly one-fifth of sanctioned judicial positions sitting vacant in the LHC alone, the commission has adopted a phased approach, opting to fill only 10 seats in the primary wave.

At the provincial level, consultations have already commenced. LHC Chief Justice Aalia Neelum has held preliminary administrative meetings with senior lawyers and state law officers. Prominent legal figures, including Punjab Advocate General Amjad Pervaiz, Islamabad Prosecutor General Ghulam Sarwar Nihang, and various senior advocates, have already participated in the consultative review to evaluate talent from both the bar and the subordinate judiciary.

Once the JCP Secretariat closes submissions on July 4, the initial pool of nominees will undergo formal scrutiny under the 2026 rules. Shortlisted candidates will then be summoned before the seven-member panel for structured interviews, after which the committee’s final recommendations will be presented to the full commission for confirmation before the end of July.

Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2026 ...